NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - PRINCETON VS ARIZONA

March 16, 2023

Tommy Lloyd

Kylan Boswell

Azuolas Tubelis

Golden 1 Center

Arizona Wildcats

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Our student-athlete guests from Arizona, Kylan Boswell, Coach Lloyd, and Azuolas Tubelis.

Coach, tough one.

TOMMY LLOYD: Yeah, no, listen, hey, I've been blessed. I've had a great start to my coaching career at Gonzaga, then coming to Arizona. There's going to be some bad with a lot of good. I'm built for it.

This is going to be a small setback 'cause, not for me, I'm just sad for these guys that they don't get to experience how special an NCAA run is because these guys were built to do that.

We ran into a good team today that made the right plays at the right time. We weren't able to separate from them enough when we had opportunities. That's what happens when you're able to stick around a basketball game.

They made enough plays down the stretch and we didn't. I'll tip my hat to them. They're a hard team to play against. I knew it was going to be a tough game. I know that program has a ton of pride. They're well-coached, have great fundamentals. That showed today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Coach, your thoughts on Princeton's defense. Seemed like every time the ball went down in the paint, they had three players.

TOMMY LLOYD: Listen, you sit here in my seat, you have an All-American big guy, an All-Conference big guy, you go inside over and over and over again, and you shoot seven free throws. I mean, I don't know if they're fouls or not. They must not have been because obviously they didn't get called.

When the game is reffed like that, it makes it tough. When you have an advantage, either they're really physical and not fouling or they're not calling the fouls. I haven't reviewed the game, so I'm not saying one way or the other. It makes it tough. It makes it tough.

When you're advantage, it's negated a little bit. I thought we did a good job having the conviction to go inside. We didn't have enough shots and get rewarded with whistles. That's how it goes.

Q. Coach, what are some things that you could have done differently down the stretch to have been able to pull off the victory?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, I mean, obviously probably I think they got a couple offensive rebounds that led to big plays. We got the ball in front of the rim a couple times and didn't deliver. I didn't think our end-of-the-game execution, our poise was what it has been in close games. That's a little disappointing.

But I told our guys, if you want to be a great player, you want to be a great coach, we all got to learn from this. We got to go back and figure out what happened and understand the value of being up 10 to 12 points with 10 minutes to go, putting the hammer on people, not letting people get back in the game.

Traditionally we've been built to do that. Recently we've kind of struggled in that area a little bit and kind of let people back in the game. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned. Obviously we did today.

Q. Coach, Pelle Larsson and Kerr both said there was a lack of energy they felt in the game. What do you attribute that to?

TOMMY LLOYD: Yeah, that's interesting. I don't know. I know that wasn't the message. I thought we had a good week of preparation. I thought we were trying to build for a tournament run.

Maybe, I don't know, some of these guys just were a little bit nervous. I don't know. I don't know. Or they expected the game to be easier than what it was. That definitely wasn't the message from the coaching staff.

I just know this: nothing great in life is achieved without energy and enthusiasm. I mean, I think that's one of those things these players need to take a look in the mirror. That's controllable by them, is their effort and their energy. So we can be better there.

Q. When you look back at the season as a whole, how would you look at it when you have some time to reflect?

TOMMY LLOYD: I think we had a great season. We had a great season. I mean, obviously we're still trying to build and develop this program. I'm still trying to develop as a coach. I think we were ranked in the top 10 for most of the year. I think these guys earned that. I think we performed well on lots of big stages.

Just unfortunately ultimately you're going to be judged sometimes how you play in this tournament. That's the good and the bad of it.

Like I said, I've been on the good side a lot, so I'm tough enough to be on the bad side and learn from this and have it kind of help reenergize me to make sure that we come back better as a program from this.

Q. For either of the players. Is there anything that you think you could point to for why not just this game but other times in the season when you've had those large leads they've gone away? Anything you could have done differently or that went wrong?

AZUOLAS TUBELIS: Just to take care of the ball and don't rush with your shots. I feel like we did it every time we were up 10, then they got a fastbreak or and-one, or fastbreak three.

I don't know. We just need to be more consistent than that.

Q. No disrespect to Coach Lloyd or the rest of the Arizona basketball players, but you come from a long line of great athletes in Lithuania. You thought about your future right now? This is a quick exit, unfortunate exit, but what is your thoughts going forward about your future now?

AZUOLAS TUBELIS: My thoughts are now just to get better, take some time off and get back in the gym. I have no idea when I'm going to play, what I want to play, what to do. We just lost a tough game so you can't really expect an answer right now. I don't know.

Q. Coach, you said you were built for this. I'm wondering, what has you kind of so composed right now, 20 minutes after the game, really looking forward as opposed to stressing your disappointment right now?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, I would just say I know how hard it is, and I respect how hard it is. If you want to do great things in life, you got to be willing to step in some dog shit once in a while. That's just how it is. And we did today. A lot of it was self-inflicted, but a lot of it was from a great opponent who has a lot of pride.

I knew it was going to be a hard game. This coaching thing is hard because you're literally judged on wins and losses in a moment's notice. I don't think that's a healthy way to live your life if you are a coach. I mean, I know it's gut-wrenching. I'll probably go through a sway of emotions in the next few days.

I love what I do, and I couldn't imagine having a real job. I'm thankful for the job. I'm thankful for the opportunity our president, who is sitting here, gave me. I owe it to the game of basketball. I owe it to these players. I owe it to my family to keep my head up, stay classy. I think that's the only way to operate.

I promise you I'll get better from this. I have lots of room to grow as a coach. I'm hard on myself every day. You know, I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and start the process of getting better.

Q. Kylan, I want to ask you about looking forward to the future since people see you as the future of Arizona. What can you build off of from yourself and this team from this season?

KYLAN BOSWELL: I would say just going back to the drawing board. Coach Lloyd, coaching staff. Regrouping as a team. That's really our main focus, just getting ready to go into the summer, getting prepared for next season.

Yeah, that's pretty much.

Q. Tommy, you guys have gone so well with that seven-man rotation. A couple key guys are banged up. How much of that was a factor?

TOMMY LLOYD: We'll never know. We're not using that as any excuse. We'll never know.

I'm sure everybody has injuries this time of year. Our players that were a little banged up played. They were out there and they were functioning.

I mean, I don't know if that really had anything to do with it.

Q. Could you wrap up the season, it's hard to right now, but you did lose the three guys to the NBA, what you accomplished.

TOMMY LLOYD: Listen, I love the direction the program's going. I mean, this isn't going to be a setback. It's not going to be a setback.

We as a program have to rally around that. We control how we react from this. I'm super proud of these guys. I'm super proud of all those guys in the locker room.

I mean, you know what, they've done a lot for me in my life, and I'm thankful for them every single day. You know what, I wish the result was different, we could keep playing on, because they're deserving. But that's how it goes sometimes.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.